


Anthropogenesis

by deepestbluest



Category: Tales of Berseria
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, F/F, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:49:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29544735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepestbluest/pseuds/deepestbluest
Summary: Tomorrow is the final battle, and Eleanor is going to get hurt no matter what. There's no happy ending where the six of them walk away and Innominat and Artorius die.There's a happy night, though, where Velvet kisses the girl she likes.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Velvet Crowe/Eleanor Hume
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25





	Anthropogenesis

**Author's Note:**

> Anthropogenesis: the process of becoming human

Velvet isn't supposed to get distracted. She has one mission, one goal to accomplish above all else. She's going to kill Artorius. Her little brother is dead because of him, she became the Lord of Calamity because of him, and even though she doesn't care about anyone other than Laphicet, she’s going to kill him and stop Innominat for them. The world is going to hate her for killing their hero, but she’s going to do it.

There's no room for anything other than revenge. There's nothing to Velvet except hatred and a hunger she can't sate.

She hasn't been a human in three years. She doesn't want anything they want.

Yet here she is, kissing Eleanor. Here she is, sharing a cramped bed with her, kissing a person who wanted her dead a month ago. Here she is, holding Eleanor’s face like one of her hands isn't a monster’s claw.

“You've never done this before, have you?” Velvet asks between kisses.

Eleanor nods. Her blush is so deep, Velvet feels it on her own face. The years she was kept on Titania with nothing but things that wanted to eat her that became her food instead don’t fall away entirely, but she doesn't try to keep hold of her anger when Eleanor lays her hand on Velvet’s chest.

She stops stoking her fury as they kiss. It doesn't go away; it can't. For a moment, though, just one, she won't help it.

Eleanor is tentative, which suits Velvet just fine. She's barely got any more experience. Other than a few stolen kisses with Niko before her crush on that guy took her from Velvet, Velvet hasn't done anything like this.

Kissing Eleanor is nice. It’s a good memory to have when she faces Artorius and Innominat. She won't have every experience before she dies, but she’ll have this.

Maybe, if they’d met in a world where Artorius hadn't killed Laphicet, they could have done this for the rest of their lives.

Maybe they wouldn't have met or maybe they wouldn't have gotten along, but Velvet is content to think of Eleanor as one more thing Artorius has taken from her.

She's comfortable with having this when Eleanor squeezes.

Velvet can't help the sound she makes.

Eleanor freezes. “Oh! Should I stop?”

“No, it's… No, you can keep going.”

“That isn't as enthusiastic as I’d hoped.” Eleanor pulls her hand back. “Maybe just kissing-”

Velvet grabs her hand. “If you make me beg, I’ll devour you.”

They glare at each other. Eleanor is stubborn about caring about other people. She doesn't like doing things that might hurt someone even if they're necessary.

Velvet can hear her thinking that Velvet is the opposite.

She can also hear Eleanor objecting to Velvet using her threat when they're together like this.

It would be fun to wind her up if they had more time.

Eleanor hasn't accepted it yet, but this is all Velvet is going to get. 

“I was just surprised,” Velvet grumbles.

Slowly, Eleanor moves her hand back.

This isn't something Velvet tried with Niko, but Eleanor’s touch makes her body hot.

Eleanor’s dress has a lot of layers. Trying not to think about what's under it is distracting; Velvet has been blindsided by enemies because she couldn't take her eyes off Eleanor and the dress that’s just short enough to draw Velvet’s thoughts to places they shouldn't go.

Velvet reaches down to touch her the same way, but just before her fingers reach the buttons on the front of Eleanor’s dress, she realizes she reached with the hand that isn't human.

“If I were bothered about your daemon hand, I wouldn't have let you touch my face with it,” Eleanor says between one kiss and the next.

Stubborn, Velvet thinks. That used to be a problem; now it makes Velvet smile.

The sound Eleanor makes when Velvet finally touches her is another memory Velvet is glad she got to make.

If she's able to have memories where she's going after this, she's going to bring tonight. The way Eleanor tastes, the soft sounds she makes, the way she wants to be gentle with Velvet even though it isn't necessary.

They won't take off their clothes; Velvet knows that. They won't go any further than this. Velvet wants to go further. She wants to take off Eleanor’s clothes. Every memory she can make, every inch of Eleanor’s body she can touch, she wants.

But they're in a tiny room in an inn. Rokurou and Eizen are sleeping in the room to one side; and Magilou and Laphicet are sleeping in the room on the other side. Even if they were alone, this is all they've ever done with someone. Stopping here, where nothing has gone wrong, is the safest choice, and for the first time since she was thrown into Titania, Velvet wants to do what's safe.

Tomorrow is the final battle, and Eleanor is going to get hurt no matter what. There's no happy ending where the six of them walk away and Innominat and Artorius die.

There's a happy night, though, where Velvet kisses the girl she likes.

Eleanor’s hand is warm and rough, and the chance to touch her at all is more than the Lord of Calamity deserves.

Eleanor is a pure-hearted exorcist. Velvet is a monster who eats whatever comes her way.

For a moment, though, Velvet hasn't killed her way to vengeance. She’s just lying in a bed with Eleanor, neither of them sure what to do when they might die tomorrow and this is as far as they’re going to go.

“That was…” Eleanor draws a shaky breath. “That was good.”

“Only good?”

Teasing Eleanor is easy, and Velvet relaxes as she stutters a reassurance that it was more than good.

“And we weren't as loud as Eizen and Rokurou,” Eleanor says when she realizes Velvet is enjoying how flustered she got. “Laphicet definitely didn't hear us.”

Velvet shrugs. “It's not like we could have explained it worse than they did.”

“Honestly! And they weren't even that embarrassed!”

“Rokurou  _ is _ a demon,” Velvet reminds her. “We’re incapable of embarrassment. And Eizen is probably older than this city, so I doubt he feels it either.”

Eleanor’s eyes light up. “If you really don't feel embarrassment, you won't mind telling me that it felt very good to you, too!”

“That's it? You made me feel very good, Eleanor.”

Getting what she wants only makes Eleanor blush harder, and as Velvet kisses her again, she realizes that she’s happy.

She’s going to die, but for a moment, she got to be happy again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for still being invested in the gays from 2016! If you want to, you can find me [on tumblr](https://asotin.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
